Resource Center

Behavioral & Emotional Health

Organization that supports our youth as they face the many challenges ahead of them. Provides parents and other community leaders opportunities for networking, prevention, education and advocacy. This site also links to the Lorain County Youth Pages- a directory of local resources for youth, including: Who can I talk to?, Drugs and Addiction, Social & Recreational Activities, Health, Violence, etc.

Coordinated School Health

Please see attached November 17, 2011 Refresh Success! Professional Development Workshop Presentation from Tina Dake, M.Ed. from Whitmer High School. This presentation outlines the CDC School Health Index Tool. For more information visit http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/shi/ or email cdake@wls4kids.org.

Please see attached November 17, 2011 Refresh Success! Professional Development Workshop Presentation from Gregg Gascon, PH.D, of the Ohio Education Association. This presentation outlines the CDC's Coordinated School Health Model and provides support for implementing the model school-wide. For more information visit www.ohea.org or email gascong@ohea.org.

Please see the attached presentation from Jill Jackson, M.Ed., ODE Office for Family and Community Support. Jill provided great insight on school climate to help improve the health and academic success of Lorain County students at the Blueprint for Excellence Professional Development Workshop held on November 7, 2012.

These quick and easy activities are a great way to get middle school kids moving and reinforce curriculum goals. Print them today and see how they can fit into your lesson plans to get kids moving and engaged!

These quick and easy activities are a great way to get middle school kids moving and reinforce curriculum goals. Print them today and see how they can fit into your lesson plans to get kids moving and engaged!

Make Math fun! These quick and easy activities are a great way to get middle school kids moving and reinforce curriculum goals. Print them today and see how they can fit into your lesson plans to get kids moving and engaged!

Gets your students moving and engaged during Music! These quick and easy activities are a great way to get middle school kids moving and reinforce curriculum goals. Print them today and see how they can fit into your lesson plans to get kids moving and engaged!

Gets your kids moving during Science! These quick and easy activities are a great way to get middle school kids moving and reinforce curriculum goals. Print them today and see how they can fit into your lesson plans to get kids moving and engaged!

These quick and easy activities are a great way to get middle school kids moving and reinforce curriculum goals. Print them today and see how they can fit into your lesson plans to get kids moving and engaged!

These quick and easy to follow cards are great for classroom teachers, substitutes and aides to use to get kids moving! Help kids get more movement in their day while learning at the same time! Print the cards today!

View three presentations from the second Coordinated School Health Workshop of the 2012-13 School Year. Heather Distin, PCC-S, provided information on how stress affects our bodies and students in the classroom. She discussed ways to minimize its effects and tips to manage stress. Next, Marietta Orlowski, Ph.D., provided methods on how to track physical activity in any classroom. During the afternoon, Kevin Lorson, Ph.D., discussed Ohio's new physical education standards.

Be sure to get this list of healthy fund raising ideas to your booster clubs, food service, principals and any other groups that do fund raising in your district! You can make money and not compromise the health of your students.

The candy drawer is no more in schools! Be sure to motivate your students with rewards that are not food. This list of ideas gives you practical and cheap options that keep kids motivated and doesn't compromise their health.

David Pauer, MNO of the Cleveland Clinic presented the attached document Learning Well -Physical Activity & Nutrition Affect Ourselves, Our Families, Schools,
Worksites and Communities at the October 2010 Coordinated School Health Workshop. This presentation can be used to inform individuals, employers and school health teams the benefits of environmental systems change and employee wellness.

This resource is a handout provided at the June 13, 2011 Back to Basics Coordinated School Health Conference by Keith King, PhD, MCHES Professor of Health Promotion and Education at the University of Cincinnati. Topics covered in this handout include a definition of school connectedness as well as strategies to enhance connections within the school environment through students, teachers and school-wide.

Drugs, Alcohol, and Tobacco

Take the Stop Smoking Quiz - What kind of smoker are you? Answer the following questions about your smoking habits. Then click the "Score Quiz" button for a profile of your nicotine dependence and some ideas about how to tame your cravings as you become a non-smoker.

This tobacco cessation factsheet has information regarding Over the Counter and Perscription Medications, Quitlines and Counseling and Group Support options that can assist you in choosing a method or multiple methods to best support you in quitting.

Food Safety

The Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE) is a not-for-profit organization that unites industry associations, professional societies in food science, nutrition and health, consumer groups, and the U.S. government to educate the public about safe food handling. Visit this website to learn more about proper food handling and food borne illness.

FoodSafety.gov is the gateway to food safety information. This website was developed to better communicate information to the public and include an improved individual alert system allowing consumers to receive food safety information, such as notification of recalls.

The purpose of this website is to raise consumer awareness about the seriousness of foodborne illness and to provide solutions for easily and safely handling food in their own kitchens, the American Dietetic Association and ConAgra Foods public awareness campaign, Home Food Safety, ™ is dedicated to providing home food safety statistics, information about foodborne illness (also known as food poisoning), and safe food handling information and tips.

This collection of motivational posters can inspire new handwashing habits and keep you healthy.

Ideas for use:
- bathrooms
- elevators
- hallways
- lunch rooms

Handwashing Buttons to Add to Your Web Site

The CDC has ready-to-use buttons available for you to add to your school, business or organizations web site to promote handwashing and get up to date information on H1N1 (swine flu). Click here to choose your button!

Great ways to tie handwashing into science, math and other core subject areas! Promoting handwashing keeps your kids healthy and ready to learn! Print these free lesson plans and get started in your school today!

Connect these great handwashing lesson plans to your current curriculum to prevent disease in your school. Handwashing prevents the spread of disease and keeps your students and staff healthy and ready to learn.

Live poultry, such as chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys, often carry harmful germs such as Salmonella. While it usually doesn’t make the birds sick, Salmonella can cause serious illness when it is passed to people.

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a number calculated from a person's weight and height. BMI provides a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems.

Visit this link through the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to calculate BMI's for Adults, Teens and Children.

An apple a day isn't the only way to prevent chronic disease. This factsheet contains both reasons and ideas for increasing physical activity, improving nutrition and screening for abnormal conditions.

If you're interested in learning more about eating better and living a healthier lifestyle, go this website, coordinated through the US Department of Health and Human Services, for daily tips and motivation along with up to date resources for the whole family.

Insurance and Healthcare

Maternal and Infant Health

A mother's alcohol use during pregnancy is one of the top preventable causes of birth defects and developmental disabilities. There is no known amount of alcohol that is safe to drink while pregnant. There is no time during pregnancy when it is safe to drink. Read this factsheet to learn more about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).

Nutrition.gov provides easy access to the best food and nutrition information from across the federal government. It serves as a gateway to reliable information on nutrition, healthy eating, physical activity, and food safety for consumers.

Display a Smart Snacking Poster to promote healthy options where snacks are available to eat. This poster is based on the Nutrient Density of snack foods and illustrates the Snackwise rating system. To show each category, snack examples are depicted on the poster. Remember to choose red snacks rarely, yellow choices occasionally and green is always the best option!

Developed by the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Snackwise is a research-based snack rating system that calculates Nutrient Density in snack foods. Snackwise is designed for use by any organization or individual interested in making healthier snack choices.

Take the Portion Distortion Quiz to see how today's portions measure up to the portions consumed 20 years ago. Find out how much physical activity it will take to burn off that double helping of pasta!

Physical Activity

The American Council on Exercise (ACE)is the largest nonprofit fitness certification and education provider in the world. Widely recognized as "America's Authority on Fitness," ACE continually sets standards and protects the public against unqualified fitness professionals and unsafe or ineffective fitness products, programs and trends.

Fitting regular exercise into your daily schedule may seem difficult at first, but the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans are more flexible than ever, giving you the freedom to reach your physical activity goals through different types and amounts of activities each week. It's easier than you think!

The way we design and build our communities can affect our mental and physical health. This website gives tips on designing and building healthy communities that can improve the quality of life for all people who live, work, worship, learn and play within their borders.

Public Health Links

Find out about programs offered through Community Health Partners for physical activity, nutrition, tobacco prevention/cessation and more by clicking on the "Our Health Services" tab on the left side tool bar.

No matter which county you visit, you can find people who are helped by the four major OSU Extension program areas: family and consumer sciences, 4-H youth development, community development, and agriculture and natural resources. Extension provides practical advice, sensible solutions, and realistic down-to-earth answers for ALL Ohioans.

Traffic Safety

Over the last 14 years, the Zero-Proof Mix-Off has become Lorain County's hottest holiday party with a purpose. 630 people gathered on 12/3/15 at Lorain County Community College to taste 22 different mocktails in support of sober driving. Share a zero-proof drink at your next party!
#MixOff15

In 2009, Ohio experienced 298,657 crashes. And of these crashes 74,191 resulted in either injury or death. Often times in a crash it is important that an emergency contact or next of kin can be located due to death or injury that may have occurred. In 2008, Ohio became on of the first states to make a next of kin registration process available.

Any holder of a valid Ohio driver license, commercial driver license, temporary permit or state of Ohio Identification card has the option of providing the name and information of a contact person they wish to be notified in the event the individual is involved in a crash or emergency and is otherwise unable to communicate with the contact person.

For additional information on Next of Kin Registration, visit
http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/dl-other-next-kin.aspx

Bay Mechanical & Electrical provides top-notch industrial mechanical and electrical services for high-profile projects across Ohio. Bay Mechanical & Electrical is unique in its wide variety of service offerings, ranging from electrical, HVAC, plumbing, crane and rigging services, and more. Take a stroll down Lorain’s West Park Drive to enjoy Patsie C. Campagna Park and catch a Lorain County Ironmen game at The Pipe Yard Ballpark on this route.

Christ Temple Apostolic Church, 370 West Lincoln Street in Oberlin, celebrates its Centennial Year in 2013. Christ Temple, as a multi-faceted ministry for almost 100 years, now leads Oberlinians and Lorain County residents into the 21st Century through a “New Levels of Living” initiative —fulfilling its Biblical mandate in III John 1:2, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your souls prospers.” We continue our Walking Challenges as we interface “Faith and Works” by joining many who Walk with a Doc, while we Walk and Talk with the Lord. It is the best of both worlds!

Constellation Schools creates and provides diverse superior educational opportunities for a community of learners, built on a foundation of character education in a safe environment, ensuring the success and wellness of all children in our advancing technological society. Constellation Schools, LLC offers parents an educational choice in their neighborhood by providing a caring, nurturing educational environment for their child. Our schools provide a high-quality education that integrates the teaching of character education/values and self-discipline, incorporates technology, stresses the importance of school attendance, and addresses the individual educational needs of each student. Through academic excellence, good attendance, and the learning of desirable character traits and proper behavior, our schools graduate students who are academically, successful, life-long learners, and responsible citizens in their school community, neighborhoods and city.

This route is equal parts busy city and quaint residential area, featuring many points of interest including banks, historical locations and parks. Next time you are in Elyria, park your car and slip on your walking shoes. There is no better way to explore the Lorain County seat, than by foot!

Flowers, benches, historical storefronts and a view of Lake Erie create a pleasant downtown Lorain walking area. This particular route provides access to a variety of distinctive historical landmarks and parks as well as administration and entertainment locations such as the library, theater, Post Office and Lorain City Hall. The Black River Landing is the perfect destination for a leisurely stroll, afternoon of fishing or a stop at the weekly Farmer’s Market.

Flowers, benches and tree lined streets create a pleasant downtown walking area. This commercial district has a variety of distinctive restaurants and shops. The route includes access to practical locations such as the library, theater, post office, beauty salon, florist, banks, and churches. Special points of interest include Oberlin College and historical landmark buildings such as Finney Chapel, Charles Martin Hall House, and the Allen Memorial Art Museum. Several memorial parks and gardens line the route. For more information regarding historical tours visit the Oberlin Heritage Center website Here

Wellington is a historical town with plenty of sights to see and places to go. A library, bank, restaurants and other small shops are located along this route. Park your car, lace up your shoes and explore this wonderful part of Southern Lorain County on foot!

Catch the Spirit of the Village of Wellington with monuments, century homes and historic buildings pointing back to its founding in
1818. Shop, eat, take care of business and get exercise as you walk through this quaint Southern Lorain County Village.

Mercy Allen Hospital is a 25-bed critical access hospital located in Oberlin, Ohio. This location offers subacute care, surgical services, rehabilitation, diagnostic services, and state-of-the-art emergency services. This walking route provides access to various restaurants and historical points of interest. This route is convenient for employees to walk during their breaks as well as before or after their shifts.

The NACS facility is located in Oberlin, one mile east of the Oberlin downtown commercial area. The campus has pleasant tree lined grassy areas on three sides. Behind the 500 building, is a nicely landscaped pavilion with picnic tables. The facility is bordered on the west by the North Coast Inland Trail. This multi-use ‘rail-trail’, formerly known only as the Oberlin Bike Path, has been expanded in both directions and now expands 15 miles from Elyria to Kipton, Ohio.

Nordson Corporation is one of the world’s leading producers of precision dispensing equipment that applies adhesives, sealants and coatings to a broad range of consumer and industrial products during manufacturing operations. The company also manufactures equipment used in the testing and inspection of electronic components as well as technology-based systems for curing and surface treatment processes. Headquartered in Westlake, and established in Amherst, Ohio, Nordson has direct operations and sales support offices in more than 30 countries.

The mission of Horizon Education Centers is to provide affordable quality care including educational and enrichment opportunities to the children in our communities. Horizon Education Centers is a non-profit organization providing quality child care and educational programs for the families in Western Cuyahoga County and Lorain County since 1978. Through partnerships with local partner school districts and community action agencies or collaborations, Horizon Education Centers perform Early Childhood and Supplemental Education. Make the walk from the partner school of North Ridgeville Middle, along the City’s Government Agencies and through South Central Park.

The Phoenix Loop East route provides access to Oberlin businesses, restaurants, historical points of interest and Oberlin High School. This course provides the perfect opportunity for Oberlin School employees to incorporate walking into their lives during lunch breaks and before or after their work day. Additional steps can be acquired on this route by taking laps around the Oberlin High School track.

Oberlin Phoenix has three available walking routes: East, West and South.

Precision Fittings, Inc. manufacturer of pipe plugs, specialty fittings and more is located approximately one mile north of the downtown Wellington commercial area. The Precision Fittings Loop is an out-and-back route that provides access to a bank, grocery store, college center as well as multiple restaurants. This route is convenient for employees to walk on their breaks as well as before or after their shift.

Located at 400 Clark Street, Elyria, Ohio 44035, Ridge Tool makes the finest RIDGID brand tools for pipe fabrication, woodworking, drain cleaning and drain diagnostics. This map features routes that provide access to multiple points of interest including schools, a bank, restaurants and a community park. This map features two routes for walkers to choose from.

Striving to be at the forefront of churches that connect with its members and community, Second Baptist Church is a vital part of the Elyria religious landscape. Reaching out and serving young and old, we are a church moving to new heights locally and abroad. This particular route winds through pleasant
residential areas and provides access to the local Boys & Girls Club. Our church is located at 427 Chapman Lane Elyria, OH 44035. Sunday services are held at 8:00am and 11:00am.

Second Baptist Church has three available walking loops: East, North and South

Please visit their website for more information on the church and opportunities for involvement.

Located at 630 East River Street, Elyria, Ohio 44035, the EMH Regional Medical Center is a full-service hospital with a broad spectrum of general medical services, inpatient and
outpatient surgeries and 24 hour, 7 day-per-week comprehensive emergency care. EMH has highly trained medical physicians and surgeons that treat a wide variety and complexity of
cases. This map features four routes of varying distances.

The Wellington Exempted Village Schools are committed to excellence by providing a quality education for all children within a safe, challenging learning environment. The walking route map includes: a short 5 minute walk around Wellington High School and a longer walk to the downtown area to see what Wellington has to offer!

The mission of Wellington Exempted Village Schools is to create excellence in education for all. This map includes three easy routes that are under a mile. Take a nice walk to Fire Department and other Village Offices, Wellington Community Park or Wellington High School to view the updated Hoop House.

Whirlaway Corporation is a world class provider of manufacturing services to the precision components industry. The Whirlaway Corporation Loop provides access to historical points of interest, retail establishments and restaurants. This route is convenient for employees to walk on their breaks as well as before or after their shifts.

Wellness Network Presentations

Attached are the PowerPoint slides from the October 27, 2011 Keynote by Dr. Dee W. Edington at the Wellness Leadership Workshop sponsored by Live Healthy Lorain County. The speaker addressed the economic consequences of an unhealthy workforce and strategies to address improving wellness at the family, workplace and faith-based settings.

Amy Jamieson-Petonic, MEd, RD, CSSD of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Enterprise discussed a Toxic Environment in regards the the obesity epidemic in the United States at the October 25, 2012 Wellness Leadership Workshop. Please see attached PowerPoint for her presentation.

Bendix Success Story:
Highlights the Ohio Healthy Business Award application process using Bendix as an example of a successful award recipient.

YMCA Pre-Diabetes Prevention Program:
Based on effective efforts researched by the National Institutes of Health, the YMCA's Diabetes Prevention Program, helps individuals learn about and adopt the healthy eating and physical activity habits that have been proven to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Participants receive support and encouragement from both a trained lifestyle coach and fellow classmates, developing a plan for improving and maintaining overall well-being.

We Thrive!:
Success stories, resources, tools and best practices of the Hamilton County Public Health Department's We THRIVE! Movement show how they work to protect families where they live, work, learn, worship and play; creating neighborhoods where the healthy choice is the easy choice.

Family Garden Initiative:
The Family Garden Initiative uses Garden Soxx throughout Lorain County communities as a means of increasing fruit/vegetable intake, physical activity and community connectedness.

Tri-State Workplace Wellness:
Tri-state Workplace Wellness Collaborative fosters workplace cultures that promote healthy lifestyles by increasing networking and sharing of ideas and experiences among members of their regional network, and providing information about ‘best in class’ workplace wellness programming.

This Lorain County Wellness Network meeting included a presentation on strategies for initiating and/or expanding wellness programming and introduced resources and suggestions for programming around National Bike Month in May.

Slides and resources from the February 12, 2015 Wellness Network meeting.
These can assist you in planning wellness initiatives and help you apply fresh ideas to carry out a comprehensive wellness plan. The CDC worksite score card and the Healthy Ohio Healthy Business award were two resources that were highlighted and discussed in detail.

Please see attached PowerPoint Presentation from the October 25, 2012 Wellness Leadership Workshop. Heidi King, Human Resource Generalist at Lorain County Printing & Publishing Company in Elyria has extensive corporate wellness experience and Human Resources experience. Her main focus is wellness, employee relations, benefit design and management. Heidi is a recognized expert in the area of improving health and wellness plans in the workplace.

Slides from the professional development presentation at the May 15, 2014 breakfast meeting of the Lorain County Wellness Leadership Network. The presentation focused on creating a worksite where the healthy choice is the easier choice.

Slides from the Wellness Leadership Network meeting on September 15, 2014. The breakfast meeting highlighted the Benefits of Financial Wellness, and Combating Work/Home Life Stress with Family Caregiver Resources.

Worksite Wellness Campaigns

Review this catalog to discover what displays and materials are currently available through the Lorain County General Health District to borrow for your wellness campaign! Return via email to healthed@loraincountyhealth.com or FAX to 440.322.0911.

The Healthier Vending & Concession Initiative increases consumer choice by expanding access to healthier snack and drink options through vending machines. The Lorain County General Health District can offer assistance for worksites to improve their vending options. To get started, download the toolkit and learn about making the healthy choice the easy choice in vending machines.

This document is a step-by-step guide to begin a blood pressure wellness campaign. The focus is to provide participants with education and skills to help improve blood pressure measurements and maintenance over time.

This document is a step-by-step guide to begin a wellness nutrition campaign. The focus of this healthy eating campaign is to provide education and skills to help improve fruit and vegetable consumption.

latest news

Everyone knows someone with high blood pressure, but how many of us actually know what blood pressure is? Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the artery (big blood vessel) walls as the heart beats. It’s normal for blood pressure to go up and down throughout the day, but if it stays consistently high for a long time, it can damage the heart.

Social connectedness is strongly linked to a person's overall health. To better connect older adults to the community, Lorain County Public Health has launched the Buddy Connect Program. The program pairs volunteers* with people who are 55+ -- participants receive two phone calls per month from their buddy volunteer. Once a month home visits are also available.